Nghiên cứu về các chiến thuật đẩy dạy kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên năm nhất chuyên nghành tiếng anh tạ trường cao đ

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ---    --- BÙI THỊ NGỌC HUỆ A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-    -

BÙI THỊ NGỌC HUỆ

A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES

IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS

TO THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS

AT HANAM TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE

(Nghiên cứu về các chiến thuật thúc đẩy dạy kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên năm nhất chuyên ngành tiếng Anh tại trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Hà Nam)

MINOR M.A THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi, 2013

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-    -

BÙI THỊ NGỌC HUỆ

A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES

IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS

TO THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS

AT HANAM TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE

(Nghiên cứu về các chiến thuật thúc đẩy dạy kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên năm nhất chuyên ngành tiếng Anh tại trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Hà Nam)

MINOR M.A THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyễn Văn Độ

Hanoi, 2013

DECLARATION

I certify that this minor thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of the Master of Arts is the result of my own work The

data and findings in the thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere

Signature

Bùi Thị Ngọc Huệ

I am also grateful to all the lecturers of Post-graduate Department, Hanoi, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University for their enthusiastic guidance and valuable lectures during the course

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all my colleagues and my students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College for their helpful participation in my questionnaires and my interviews, without which my thesis could not have been accomplished

Finally, I am indebted to my friends and my family, especially my husband for his love, his care, his help and his enormous encouragement during the process

of writing this thesis, and my little baby, who gave me great inspiration and spiritual support for the completion of this study

ABSTRACT

Motivation is considered one of the most important factors in helping teaching and learning gain success The majority of the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College need motivating to get effective communication in English speaking skills because of the fact that at high school they almost only focus on other skills such as reading, writing, grammatical competence to pass the entrance exam Therefore, this study aims at investigating kinds of motivation the first-year English major students are having, strategies and techniques teachers of speaking are applying to motivate their students, as well as seeking difficulties the students are facing Then, some suggestions on motivational strategies and techniques are provided for teachers and students to help them to succeed in speaking lessons The instruments employed in this study were surveyed questionnaires for teachers and first-year English major students, direct interviews and classroom observation The data collected were calculated, analyzed and the results were also drawn out

Table 3: Students’ goal for learning speaking

Table 4: Necessity to motivate students in stages of a speaking lesson

Table 5: Activities teachers do before a speaking task

Table 6: Ways of organizing speaking activities

Table 7: Ways of grouping

Table 8: Activities teachers do while students practice speaking

Table 9: Activities teachers do when students show low motivation in speaking activities

Table 10: Activities teachers do to encourage students to speak

Table 11: Activities teachers do after students finish practicing

Table 12: The motivational strategies used by the teachers by frequency

Table 13: Level of difficulty of speaking English well

Table 14: Difficulties students encounter when participating in speaking activities Table 15: Students’ preference of being grouped

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… ii

ABSTRACT ……… iii

LIST OF ABREVIATION ……… iv

LIST OF TABLES ……… iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… v

PART I: INTRODUCTION ……… 1

1 Rationale of the study ……… 1

2 Aims of the study ……… 2

3 Research questions ……… 2

4 Methods of the study ……… 2

5 Scope of the study ……… 3

6 Significance of the study ……… 3

7 Design of the study ……… 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT ……… 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ……… 4

1.1 Theoretical background of motivation ……… 4

1.1.1 Definitions of motivation ……… 4

1.1.2 Motivation in L2 learning ……… 4

1.1.3 Type of motivation in L2 learning ……… 8

1.1.4 The importance of motivation in L2 learning ……… 9

1.1.5 Main de-motivating factors affecting motivation in L2 learning ……… 10

1.1.5.1 Definitions of de-motivation ……… 10

1.1.5.2 Main de-motivating factors affecting motivation in L2 learning …… 11

1.1.5.2.1 Learners’ factors ……… 11

1.1.5.2.2 Teachers’ factors ……… 13

1.1.5.2.3 Teaching and learning conditions ……… 14

1.1.6 Motivational strategies in teaching and learning L2 ……… 14

1.2 Theoretical background of teaching speaking skills ……… 16

1.2.1 Definitions of speaking ……… 16

1.2.2 The importance of speaking skills ……… 16

1.2.3 Communicative language teaching approach ……… 16

1.2.4 Approaches to teaching speaking skills ……… 17

1.2.4.1 Teaching interactional skills ……… 17

1.2.4.2 Integrating pronunciation teaching ……… 18

1.2.4.3 Accuracy and fluency ……… 18

1.2.5 Principles of teaching speaking ……… 18

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ……… 20

2.1 Context of the study ……… 20

2.2 Participants of the study ……… 21

2.3 Instruments of the study ……… 21

2.3.1 Survey questionnaires ……… 22

2.3.2 Interviews ……… 22

2.3.3 Classroom observation ……… 22

2.4 Data collection procedures ……… 23

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ……… 24

3.1 Kinds of motivation in learning speaking skills ……… 24

3.2 Strategies and techniques applied by the teachers to motivate their students 26 3.3 Main factors de-motivating students in English speaking ……… 36

3.4 Motivational strategies and techniques can be applied to motivate students 39

PART III: CONCLUSION ……… 42

1 Summary of the findings ……… 42

2 Limitations of the study ……… 43

3 Suggestions for further researches ……… 43

REFERENCES ……… 44 APPENDICES ……… I

APPENDIX 1 ……… I APPENDIX 2 ……… IV APPENDIX 3 ……… IX APPENDIX 4 ……… X APPENDIX 5 ……… XI

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Today, English has become an international language It is spoken as a second language and an official language in many countries, and as a foreign language by a great number of people in the global world as well Besides, it is also

a medium of communication in many fields such as aviation, technology, politics, science, commerce, internet, and so on Therefore, competence of using English accurately and fluently is of great importance to a lot of people

Because English has become so important, many non-native English speaking countries including Vietnam pay more and more attention to teaching and learning English In fact, in Vietnam English is a compulsory subject in schools, colleges and universities The number of people using English to communicate is on the rise Most of the English textbooks are republished in the forms of communicative ones to meet learners’ need Also, instead of traditional methods in which grammatical competence is much more paid attention to, communicative language teaching approach has been widely applied

However, there is a fact that a large number of students, even English major students cannot communicate in oral English although they are the first-year students at a college or a university One of the reasons for this issue is that most of the students only focus on grammatical competence to sit for the entrance exams, and distract communicative competence Indeed, much more attention is paid to reading skill, writing skill and language focus Whereas, speaking skill is considered as one of the most important skills to help learners to gain communicative competence As researchers and educators, what we should do to help learners achieve communicative goals to meet their needs in using oral

language effectively Therefore, with the study “A study on motivational strategies

in teaching speaking skills to the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College”, the researcher of this study does hope that the study

will help teachers of speaking skill in some ways to find appropriately motivational strategies in speaking lessons to respond to their students’ need for effective communication

2 Aims of the study

The study aims at investigating the motivational strategies in teaching speaking skills to the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College To be more specific, the aims of the study are:

 To investigate kinds of motivation the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College possess

 To investigate strategies and techniques teachers of speaking skill apply to motivate their students in speaking lessons

 To investigate main factors de-motivating students in learning speaking skill

 To suggest strategies and techniques teachers of speaking can apply to motivate the students in English speaking lessons

3 Research questions

The following research questions are raised to answer to the aims of the study:

1 What kinds of motivation are possessed by the first-year English major students in learning speaking skill?

2 What strategies and techniques are applied by the teachers of speaking to motivate the students in speaking lessons?

3 What are main factors de-motivating the students in learning speaking skill?

4 What motivational strategies and techniques can be applied in teaching speaking skill to help the students achieve effective communication?

4 Methods of the study

Both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed to carry out the study The data are collected by means of survey questionnaires, interviews and classroom observation

5 Scope of the study

To succeed in teaching and learning a foreign language, many factors are paid attention to Among these factors, motivational strategies are the focal point of the study as a main factor in teaching speaking skills Due to the time constraints, this study only involves teachers of English speaking skills and the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College

6 Significance of the study

The study hopes to contribute a part to help teachers find out more motivational strategies to give a great assistance to their students to improve their speaking skills and achieve communicative competence

7 Design of the study

This study consists of three main parts:

Part I, Introduction presents the rationale of the study, the aims of the study,

research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study, methods of the study, and design of the study

Part II, Development includes three following chapters

Chapter 1, Literature Review displays the theoretical background of

motivation and the theoretical background of teaching speaking skills

Chapter 2, Methodology presents the context of the study, participants,

research instruments and data collection procedures and methods

Chapter 3, Data Analysis and Findings focuses on analysis about kinds of

motivation possessed by the first-year English major students, strategies and techniques used by teachers of speaking, factors de-motivating students in learning speaking skills, and motivational strategies and techniques can be applied

Part III, Conclusion summarizes the findings, limitations of the study and

suggestions for further study are provided in this part

References and Appendices are presented in the last pages of the study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theoretical background of motivation

in that respect” In the constructivists’ definition of motivation, they place “further emphasis on social contexts as well as the individuals’ decisions” (ibid) Despite the differences, in all the definitions of motivation given by the three schools of thought the concept of “needs” is emphasized, that is, “the fulfillment of needs is rewarding, requires choices, and in many cases must be interpreted in a social context” (ibid, p.161)

Dornyei (2001, p.613) defined motivation as “a general way of referring to the antecedents (i.e the causes and the origins” He also stated that “motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activities” (2001, p.7) The author mentioned two dimensions of human behavior: direction and magnitude (intensity) which motivation concerns

1.1.2 Motivation in second language learning

Recently, motivation in second language learning has become educators’ great interest

Lightbown and Spada (1999, p.56) note that motivation in second language learning is quite complicate to study which can be explained in terms of two factors: learners’ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community

Besides, Parson, Hinson and Brown (2001, p.28) define motivation as an important component or factor in the learning process Learning and motivation have the same importance in order to achieve something Learning makes us gain new knowledge and skills and motivation pushes us or encourages us to go through the learning process

Also, according to Ellis (1994) and Mcdonough (1983), learners’ motivation has been widely accepted as a key factor which influences the rate and success of second/ foreign language learning

Holt (2001, p.1), referring to Cookes and Schmidt (1991), defines motivation

as “…the learners’ orientation with regard to the goal of learning as a second language”

Dornyei (1994a) developed a general framework of second language (L2) motivation that attempted to synthesize various lines of research by offering an extensive list of motivational components categorized into three main dimensions:

the Language Level, the Learner Level, and the Learning Situation Level, presented

in table 1 below:

Table 1: Components of foreign language learning motivation (Dornyei, 1994a: 280)

Language Level Integrative Motivational Subsystem

Instrumental Motivational Subsystem Learner Level Need for Achievement

Affiliative Motive Authority Type Direct Socialization of Motivation

 Modeling

 Task Presentation

 Feedback

Goal-orientedness Norm & Reward System Group Cohesion Classroom Goal Structure

Besides, the motivational components that are relevant to L2 instruction have been recently summarized by Williams and Burden (1997) as part of a larger overview of psychology for language teachers, pointed out in table 2 below:

Table 2: Williams and Burden’s (1997) framework of motivation in language learning

Intrinsic interest of activity

 arousal of curiosity

 optimal degree of challenge

Perceived value of activity

 personal relevance

 anticipated value of outcomes

 intrinsic value attributed to the activity

Sense of agency

 locus of causality

 locus of control RE process and outcomes

 ability to set appropriate goals

 realistic awareness of personal

 strengths and weaknesses in skills required

 personal definitions and judgments of success and

failure

 self-worth concern learned helplessness

Attitudes language learning in general

 to the target language

 to the target language community and culture

Other affective states

 mediated learning experiences

 the nature and amount of amount

of appropriate praise

 punishments, sanctions The learning environment

 comfort

 resources

 time of day, week, year

 size of class and school

 class and school ethos The broader context

 wider family networks

 the local education system

1.1.3 Types of motivation in second language learning

Motivation can be classified into two main categories: intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation

The word “intrinsic” means “innate” or “within”, therefore intrinsic

motivation originates in the individual itself Learners willingly and voluntarily try

to learn what they suppose it is worth and important to them There are no external factors affecting their study On the other hand, their study completely comes from within them, from the inner desire to learn and depends on their own will, without any rewards as well as without the need for external outcomes Therefore, teachers

do not have many influences on students’ intrinsic motivation

In contrast to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation depends much on

external factors It is based on external outcomes such as rewards or punishment to persuade learners to take part in learning activities This extrinsic motivation brings

a negative impact to the students because they do not learn with their strong intention or will but because of the rewards or the punishment Thus, if the goal of

an intrinsic motivated student can last a long time because of their inner desire and their own will to fulfill a positive learning outcome, the goal of an extrinsic motivated student perhaps exists in a short period of time when the rewards or the punishment no longer interest them

Motivation in second language learning is divided into two types by Harmer (1991, p.3) as follows:

Short-term goal refers to students’ wish or desire to do something in near

future such as passing their examination, or getting good marks or high scores

Long-term goal refers to students’ or learners’ wish or desire to get a better

job in the future, or to be able to communicate with other people or native speakers

in the target language they learn

In addition, motivation in second language learning is more broadly

categorized into two categories: integrative and instrumental motivation

Saville-Troike (2006, p.86) defines integrative motivation as the desire to be

a part of recognized important members of the community or that society that speak the second language It is based on interest in learning the second language because

of their need to learn about, associate or socialize with the people who use it or because of purpose or intention to participate or integrate in the second language using the same language in that community; but sometimes it involves emotion or affective factors a great deal

Also, according to Saville-Troike (2006, p.86), instrumental motivation

involves the concepts of purely practical value in learning the second language in order to increase learners’ careers or business opportunities, giving them more prestige and power, accessing scientific and technical information, or just passing a course of their study in school

1.1.4 The importance of motivation in second language learning

The importance of motivation in enhancing second or foreign language learning is undeniable Lifrieri (2005, p.4) points out “when asked about the factors which influence individual levels of success in any activity – such as language learning, most people would certainly mention motivation among them”

Brown (2000, p.160) states that “it is easy in second language learning to claim that a learner will be successful with the proper motivation”

Gardner (2006, p.241) posits that “students with higher levels of motivation will do better than students with lower levels” He further adds that “if one is motivated, he/she has reasons (motives) for engaging in the relevant activities, expends effort, persists in the activities, attends to the tasks, shows desire to achieve the goal, enjoys the activities, etc” (Gardner, 2006, p.243)

Spolsky (1990, p.157) stated that motivated students are likely to learn more and learn more quickly than less-motivated students In a particular learning situation, students who are less motivated are likely to lose their attention, misbehave and cause discipline problems On the other hand, students who are more

highly motivated will participate actively and pay more attention to a certain learning task or activity

Motivation is one of some important factors that may influence students’ English achievement (Yu-mei, 2009)

Li & Pan (2009) state that among the factors influencing students’ learning, motivation is considered as an important reason for different achievement It determines the success or failure in second language learning because it can directly influence the frequency of using learning strategies, willpower of learning, goal setting, and the achievement in learning

1.1.5 Main de-motivating factors affecting motivation in L2 learning

1.1.5.1 Definitions of de-motivation

According to Dornyei (2001, p.143), demotivation is defined as “specific external forces that reduce or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention or an ongoing action”

Trang and Baldauf (2007, p.100) stated: “demotivation has a negative impact

on students, preventing them from gaining expected learning outcomes”

1.1.5.2 Main de-motivating factors affecting motivation in L2 learning

Some studies have investigated the factors influencing demotivation at different levels of education

Kikuchi and Sakai (2009) listed five demotivating factors among Japanese learners including learning contents and materials, teachers’ teaching styles, inadequate school facilities, lack of intrinsic motivation, test scores

Besides, in order to investigate the sources of demotivation, Dornyei (2001a) listed the following nine demotivating factors:

 Teachers’ personalities, commitments, competence, teaching methods

 Inadequate school facilities (large class sizes, unsuitable level of classes or frequent change of teachers)

 Reduced self-confidence due to their experience of failure or lack of success

 Negative attitude toward the foreign language studied

 Compulsory nature of the foreign language study

 Interference of another foreign language that pupils are studying

 Negative attitude toward the community of the foreign language spoken

 Attitudes of group members

 Course books used in class

Basing on Dornyei’s study, the researcher of this study will focus on main factors such as: teachers, learners, teaching and learning conditions

1.1.5.2.1 Learners’ factors

 Intelligence: Many studies using IQ tests and different methods of assessing

language learners have found that IQ scores are a good means of predicting how successful a learner is Measures of intelligence may be more strongly related to certain kinds of L2 abilities than others

 Personality: It is said that introverted or anxious leaners usually make slower

progress, particularly in the development of oral skills They are less likely to take advantage of opportunities to speak; or to seek out such opportunities More outgoing students will not worry about the inevitability of making mistakes They will take risks, and thus will give themselves much more practice

 Age: Second language acquisition is influenced by the age of the learner

Children, already having solid literacy skills in their own language appear to

be in the best position to acquire a new language efficiently Motivated, older learners can be very successful too, but usually struggle to achieve native-speaker-equivalent pronunciation and intonation

 Learners’ beliefs: All learners have strong beliefs and opinions about how

instruction should be delivered Learners’ preferences for learning influence the kinds of strategies they choose to learn new materials

 Cognition: In general, it seems that students with greater cognitive abilities

will make the faster progress Some linguists believe that there is a specific,

innate language learning ability that is stronger in some students than in others

 Experiences: Learners who have acquired general knowledge and experience

are in a stronger position to develop a new language than those who haven’t The student, for example, who has already lived in three different countries and been exposed to various languages and cultures has a stronger base for learning a further language than the student who hasn’t had such experiences

 Motivation: Intrinsic motivation has been found to correlate strongly with

educational achievement Clearly, students who enjoy language learning and take pride in their progress will do better than those who don’t Extrinsic motivation is also a significant factor For example, students who need to learn English in order to take a place at an American university or to communicate with people who speak English are likely to make greater efforts and thus greater progress

1.1.5.2.2 Teachers’ factors

Many researchers concluded that teachers are one of the most determinant factors of L2 learners’ motivation (Dornyei, 1994; Tanaka, 2005) Many empirical studies of teachers’ motivation were conducted to identify how teachers influence learners’ motivation

Dornyei and Csizer (1998) point out ten commandments for teachers to motivate language learners: teachers should set a personal behavior example, make sure that the class atmosphere is relaxed and pleasant, present task properly to the learners, have good teacher-student relationships, work on increasing learners’ self-confidence, ensure that the language class is interesting to the students, promote as much as possible learners’ autonomy, personalize the learning process, increase learners’ goals, and make sure that learners are familiar with the target language culture

However, this study only focuses on factors such as teachers’ behavior, relationship between teachers and students and teachers’ enthusiasm basing on Dornyei’s theory

 Teachers’ behavior is considered as a powerful tool of motivation in

classroom Teachers’ behavior can influence the students’ engagement in class (Dornyei & Csizer, 1998)

 Relationship between teachers and students: It is crucial to establish a class

atmosphere of mutual trust and respect with the learners (Alison & Halliwell, 2002) Teachers can promote such respect and trust through interacting with students on a personal level and show that they care about their students’ personal issues or challenges that they face in the classroom or even outside

 Enthusiasm is contagious in classroom; therefore, if students recognize their

teachers’ enthusiasm to the task, they, too, will be enthusiastic (Dornyei & Ushioda, 2011)

1.1.5.2.3 Teaching and learning conditions

In addition to physical conditions in the classroom such as the classroom size, chairs, desks, tables, boards, and bulletin boards, classroom atmosphere is one

of the most important motivational conditions affecting teaching and learning L2 Students’ anxiety is one of the most recognized factors that undermine learning effectiveness and second language motivation (Dornyei, 2007; MacIntyre, 2002; Young, 1999) In safe classroom environments, students are encouraged to express their opinions and perspectives on different issues because they feel safe and protected from embarrassment and sarcasm Humor is a very potential factor to improve the classroom atmosphere The use of humor helps students feel at ease without tension in the air

1.1.6 Motivational strategies in teaching and learning second language

With motivation being one of the key factors that determine success in second language learning, strategies in motivating language learners should be seen

as an important aspect of the theoretical analysis of L2 motivation Interestingly, the

past decade has witnessed an increasing number of L2 scholars designing and summarizing motivational techniques for classroom application (e.g Alison & Halliwell, 2002; Brown, 2001; Chambers, 1999; Williams & Burden, 1997), with

one book being particularly relevant to this topic: Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom by Dornyei (2001b), in which a list of more than 100 concrete

motivational techniques, divided into the pre-actional, actional and post-actional phases was presented within a comprehensive theoretical framework Teachers can employ to generate, sustain, and promote learners’ motivation

However, in this study, the researcher only mentions strategies pointed out

by Candlin and Mercer (p.34) and teachers can employ them to motivate their learners These could be described as general strategies that could be said to work in most educational settings:

 Motivating students into the lesson by keeping them informed about forthcoming activities

 Varying the activities, tasks and materials to avoid boredom and stimulate attention

 Using cooperative rather than competitive goals This helps to increase confidence and make weaker participants feel needed

self-As mentioned above, successful learning can increase motivation, just as high motivation can bring about successful learning The teacher can bring this process under control by creating successful learning As Cook puts it (Cook, p.100), short-term motivation towards the day-to-day activities in the classroom can also have an effect In this way, the teacher can improve motivation by providing effectiveness of instruction, including classroom management, structuring, tasks and grouping

 Classroom management: good organization and management of learners

increases motivation and raises expectations of success

 Structuring or making one’s teaching intentions clear and giving clear

instructions improves students’ attention rate

 Tasks: appropriateness for learners, order, pacing, grading (so that different

learners are expected to produce different results) and materials are all factors to be considered in designing and implementing tasks to increase the motivation of learners

 Grouping: using different kinds of grouping during class activities can

promote or impede learning

By employing these motivational strategies seriously, teachers can help their learners improve their study

1.2 Theoretical background of teaching speaking skills

1.2.1 Definitions of speaking

Speaking is crucially important for the whole learning process The term

“speaking” has interested many linguists

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2009, p.414), speaking is “the action of conveying information or expressing ones’ thoughts and feelings in spoken languages.”

Speaking is “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information” (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997)

Chaney (1998, p.13) stated that speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts

In general, there are different concepts of speaking; however, in this study the term

“speaking” will be used to refer to second language teaching and learning

1.2.2 The importance of speaking skills

Speaking skill plays a significance role in teaching and learning a foreign language It not only helps learners know how to read, to write, to listen but also know how to communicate with English speaking people It is undeniable that the speaking ability is a good source of motivation for most students Nunan (1991)

affirms that success is measured in term of the ability to carry out a conversation in the target language

1.2.3 Communicative language teaching (CLT) approach

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is a prominent theoretical model

in English language teaching and accepted by many applied linguists and teachers

as one of the effective approaches

According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), CLT starts with a theory of language as communication, and its goal is to develop learners’ communicative competence

CLT views language as system for the expression of meaning where the main function of language is to permit interaction and communication (Richard, 2001)

CLT wants to involve students in real or realistic communication through different activities In this case, the accuracy of target language is less important than successful achievement of the communicative task (Harmer, 2001)

In “approaches and methods in language teaching”, Richards and Rodgers (2001) summarized the communicative view of language as:

 Language is a system for the expression of meaning

 The primary function of language is to allow interaction and communication

 The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses

 The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning

In general, the main function of CLT is to permit interaction and communication Therefore, the primary elements of language are not only grammatical and structural features but also the functional and communicative meaning

1.2.4 Approaches to teaching speaking skills

1.2.4.1 Teaching interactional skills

Teaching interactional skills means teach students how to talk as interaction The main features of talk as interaction can be summarized as follows:

 Has a primarily social function

 Reflects role relationships

 Reflects speaker’s identity

 May be formal or casual

 Uses conversational conventions

 Reflects degrees of politeness

 Employs many generic words

 Uses conversational register

(cited from Brown and Yule, 1983)

In brief, teaching interactional skills involves teaching students know how to open and close conversations, choose topics, make small-talk, joke, recount personal incidents and experiences, use adjacency pairs, react to others, interrupt, use an appropriate style of speaking

1.2.4.2 Integrating pronunciation teaching

To communicate a foreign language in general, English language in particular, pronunciation is extremely important It is teachers’ responsibility to decide when to focus on pronunciation, and on which aspects, to help their students avoid mother tongue interfere, embarrassment, fear or losing face, and help them become like-native speakers Besides, teachers also need to help their students with individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress, types of liking, ellipsis, intonation, and rhythm

1.2.4.3 Accuracy and fluency

 Accuracy: Lim (1994, p.23) defined accuracy as “the ability to use correct

forms in which utterances do not contain errors affecting phonological, syntactic and discourse features of the language.”

 Fluency is natural language use occurring when a speaker engages in

meaningful interaction and maintains comprehensible and ongoing communication despite limitations in his or her communicative competence

1.2.5 Principles of teaching speaking skills

Here are some suggestions for teachers in teaching speaking:

 Be aware of the differences between second language and foreign language learning contexts

 Provide maximum opportunity to students to speak

 Try to involve each student in every speaking activity

 Give students practice with both fluency and accuracy

 Provide opportunities for students to talk by using group work or pair work, and reduce teacher speaking time in class

 Plan speaking tasks that involve negotiation for meaning

 Design classroom activities that involve guidance and practice in both transactional and interactional speaking

 Indicate positive signs when commenting on a student’s response

 Ask eliciting questions

 Provide written feedback in some cases

 Do not correct students’ pronunciation mistakes very often while they are speaking

 Involve speaking activities not only in class but also out of class

 Circulate around classroom

 Provide the vocabulary beforehand

 Diagnose problems faced by students and provide more opportunities to practice the spoken language

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Context of the study

Being an educational unit of Hanam Department of Education and Training, Hanam Teachers’ Training College takes responsibility of training majority of teachers teaching at kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools in province, and in some other provinces English is a compulsory subject to all students in our college Up to now, there are ten English classes Unlike universities, colleges in big cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, our college attracts the minor number of students to study here To most students, learning here is nearly their last choice because of their health, financial conditions, or their ability Their English marks in the entrance exam range from 3 to 8 only, and the total marks of three subjects are various, but not high Most English students come from rural areas of the province where the ways of teaching and learning mostly focus on grammatical competence with comprehensible reading, writing, and language focus to get high marks in the exams, or simply to pass the exams rather than communicative competence Moreover, majority of the students learn passively, only try to obtain knowledge from their teachers As a result of these facts, as the first year students, they have many difficulties with new ways of English learning basing on CLT approach Besides, they lack learning motivation to achieve communicative competence In fact, they often keep silent in class, or hardly understand what their teachers are talking, or even feel stressed, frustrated to listen to or talk in English Therefore, it is English teachers’ duty to encourage them to find good new ways of learning to gain communicative competence The fact is that our college has invited two English teaching assistants from Fullbright organization in Hanoi working full-time both in class and out of class in order to help English students in their communicative competence in two recent years Nevertheless, only the second or third-year students take these advantages The first-year students seem not to get a lot because

of their low ability when entering the college and lack of learning motivation In

addition, the sources of books in English in our college library are very limited Most course books our students use are photocopies introduced or delivered by teachers The course book of speaking skills the first-year English major students

use is Let’s Talk 1, second edition (by Leo Jones, Cambridge University Press)

Furthermore, students do not also have a lot of encouragement as well as competitive learning environment to practice speaking English when the number of English classes each year is only one or two classes with 30 or 70 students in each course

Being a minor unit of Hanam Teachers’ Training College, Department of foreign languages and information technology consists of 12 teachers of English with 6 teachers having master degree of English, 6 teachers studying post-graduate program at Vietnam National University, Hanoi All of them have experienced in teaching English more than 3 years Some teachers who have experienced in teaching speaking skill said that teaching this skill for the first-year students is the most challenging to them They often have difficulties motivating their students to take part in class activities actively and enthusiastically

From the facts above, it is very important to find out effective ways and strategies to help teachers and students have success in speaking teaching and learning

2.2 Participants of the study

With the limitation of the number of the first-year students in a school year at our college, all the 50 first-year students (including 1 male and 49 female students) from K16A and K16B were taken part in the study All of them have studied English at least three years

Our department is composed of 12 teachers of English (all are female) All of them having taught English speaking skills were invited to participate in the study

2.3 Instruments of the study

Instruments are two questionnaires, interviews and classroom observation

2.3.1 Survey Questionnaires

With their proved advantages, questionnaires are always the first tool used in researches in many different fields This study used two survey questionnaires including one designed for students to explore types of motivation they are possessing in speaking lessons and their opinions about English speaking as well as the motivational strategies their teachers apply Another survey questionnaire was designed for teachers in order to investigate what they have done and need to do to motivate their students in speaking classes All the questions and the choices in the two questionnaires were written in English

2.3.2 Interviews

To get more in-deep information for the study, interviews were employed after the classroom observation and the administration of the survey questionnaires Because only after several months of learning at our college, the first-year students are not really good at listening and speaking in English, to get more benefits interviews were carried out in Vietnamese with two students chosen randomly from two classes K16A and K16B Then, all the interviews were transcribed into English Five teachers who have experienced in teaching speaking skill for the first-year students were invited to participate in the interviews to give more information for open-ended questions in the questionnaires

2.3.3 Classroom observation

In this study, classroom observation was employed before the survey questionnaires and the interviews After observing two classes in speaking lessons, I realized that teachers seem not to get their objectives in the lessons as many students hardly meet teacher’s requirements in speaking activities the teacher assigned Naturally, I observed two classes four times, each twice with 120 minutes for each time, and with a lot of note-takings, some audio-taping to analyze more carefully at home To make teachers and students feel free, I just sat at the back row

as a non-participant observer

2.4 Data collection procedures

To collect data with validity and reality, firstly the researcher asked for two teachers’ permission to take part in two speaking lessons in two classes During the lesson-steps, the researcher observed carefully and took notes teacher and students’ activities as well as types of motivation taking place All notes were kept and interpreted carefully, and then the drawn-out-conclusions were the bases for designing survey questionnaires and structured interviews

Next, 50 survey questionnaires for students were delivered to 50 students with clearly written explanations and structures At the same time, 12 survey questionnaires were also delivered to 12 teachers The time for both students and teachers to complete the questionnaires was 3 days so that they could answer all the questions carefully basing on their experience The purpose and the importance of these questionnaires were explained clearly After that, the researcher collected all the questionnaires delivered to calculate and analyze

Finally, 5 teachers experiencing in teaching speaking for the first-year students were invited to join in the one-one interviews The content of the interviews was extracted from the questionnaires so that the researcher could get more information for results of the study The interviews were informed in advance for the teacher and were carried out at ease between the researcher and the teacher

at comfortable places and appropriate time Then, two interviews were implemented with two students randomly chosen from two classes To be easy for the first-year students, and to get effectiveness, these two interviews were carried out in Vietnamese and in the break time, at comfortable places Each interview lasted for

10 to 15 minutes The data were recorded, transcribed, and then translated in English

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINGDINGS

In this chapter, the researcher interprets the results from the feedback of the questionnaires, the interviews

As presented in chapter 2, classroom observation is just the basis for the researcher to design the questionnaires and the interview questions for research purposes Therefore, all the notes from observing would not be analyzed in this part

3.1 Kinds of motivation in learning speaking skills

Investigating kinds of motivation in learning speaking skills the first-year English major students are having is one of the aims of the study The answer can

be found throughout the analysis of the question 1 in the questionnaire for students

Students’ goals for learning English speaking skills

Types of

motivation

Goals for learning speaking Percentage

Integrative To communicate with foreigners who speak

English

20%

Integrative To study about the people, culture of English

speaking countries

0%

Intrinsic To be interested in speaking lessons 8% Instrumental To pass the exams and get high marks 0% Integrative To watch TV programs, listen to music, read

newspapers, stories, or books, …… in English

8%

Table 3: Students’ goal for learning speaking

Table 3 indicates that most of the surveyed students (80%) learn English speaking for their future career This is easily understandable that they identify exactly the importance of English speaking skills in their future career In fact,